Siege of Lachish (1290 BC)

The Siege of Lachish occurred in 1290 BC when an Egyptian army under Pharaoh Seti I's grandson Amun-her-khepeshef besieged the Canaanite city-state of Lachish. The city was defended by only 25 soldiers, but they inflicted 38 casualties on the siege army before the walls were breached and the Canaanites were forced to surrender; the Egyptians exterminated the populace of the city.

Siege
In 1290 BC, Pharaoh Seti I decided to expand Egypt's borders into the Levant to compete with the rival Hittite, Assyria, and Babylonian empires. His grandson Amun-her-khepeshef, the Governor of Gaza, initiated building projects in the city to ensure that he could recruit high-quality units for the campaign, and he recruited habiru mercenaries before starting his campaign against Canaan in the north.

The Egyptian diplomat Osorkon of Gaza succeeded in bribing the Canaanite captains Arhalba and Addunirari into disbanding their armies, clearing the way for the conquest of Canaan. Amun-her-khepeshef's army proceeded to lay siege to the fortified city of Lachish, which was held by just 25 troops under Duppi-Teshub. The Canaanite towers rained fire arrows upon the besiegers as they moved their rams into position, inflicting considerable losses on the Egyptians. However, once the walls were breached, the Egyptians charged into the city and massacred the Canaanite soldiers; 38 Egyptians and 12 Canaanites died in battle. Angered by the city's resistance, Amun-her-khepeshef had 467 Lachishites massacred. Not long after the Egyptian conquest, Amun-her-khepeshef had the Canaanite temple demolished and replaced it with several Kemetic shrines and temples.